Trulyy India Hotels & Resorts based in Ahmedabad has opened its twelfth hotel – a 50-key hotel in Bhimtal, Uttarakhand – and is in talks to open a few more in Goa and Diu. With a focus firmly on the mid-market segment in India as well as the growing inbound traffic, Trulyy India Hotels & Resorts is looking to expand its portfolio and offer tourists a wider variety of hotels to choose from. It currently has 11 hotels spread across Gujarat and Rajasthan, and its twelfth hotel is coming up in Bhimtal, Uttarakhand. Sharing more detail, Naresh Arora, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Trulyy India Hotels & Resorts, says, “This new hotel will be operations by October 1, 2019 and will have 50 rooms. It will be a complete resort with a beautiful location and world-class facilities for MICE.” Arora is also adding rooms to their existing hotels. With huge demand from inbound and domestic, their Rajasthan hotels are seeing huge footfalls. “So we are adding 50 more rooms in Jaisalmer, which currently has 57 rooms and it will be ready by October end. We are a hotel chain predominantly having hotels in Rajasthan with nine properties there. We are now looking to open a wellness resort in Rishikesh and are in discussions,” he says.

Indiatourism Kolkata, Regional Office (East), MOT, Govt of India, presents Career East-2019, a 4-day hospitality career festival to be held in Kolkata in association with the Institute of Hotel Management, Kolkata. All educational institutes located in the states/UT of West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand and Andaman & Nicobar islands, which run a regular Hotel Management degree/diploma course of 3 years of longer duration are eligible to participate. The event will be held at IHM Kolkata.

The sixth edition of Travel Luxury Show, which was held at Crowne Plaza Jaipur, saw buyers coming in from around 10 Indian cities for B2B meetings with representatives of select luxury travel products across India. The two day event was attended by buyers from metros like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, as well as Tier II, III cities like Jaipur, Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Nagpur, Ahmedabad etc. All the buyers and exhibitors had table-top meetings of 10 minutes each with each other over two days.

The LCCs are expected to post a strong double-digit growth of 25-30% in fiscal in domestic passenger traffic, led by robust expansion of domestic capacity by SpiceJet and Indigo. However, non-revival of Jet Airways would curb growth at the industry level.  Firmer fares and strong passenger-traffic growth are estimated to propel the earnings before Interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and lease rentals (EBITDAR) margin of India’s low-cost carriers (LCCs) to 24-25% this fiscal, compared with 15-16% in the last. Fares are expected to rise because of limited capacity additions in the industry since Jet Airways ran aground. With the improvement in EBITDAR margin, the LCCs’ operating cash flows are expected to touch a decadal high of Rs 4,700-5,200 crore this fiscal.

Singapore welcomed a record 160,000 cruise passengers from India in 2018 (a 27% increase over 2017), establishing India as the top source market for cruise visitors, revealed GB Srithar, Regional Director, India, Middle East & South Asia, International Group, Singapore Tourism Board. He added, “This was possible only with the strong and relentless support from partner-friends like you, making Singapore a must-visit cruise holiday destination and hub.” Talking about the Cruise Tourism Performance in 2018, Srithar said, “2018 was a good year for Singapore’s tourism sector. Singapore welcomed 1.44 million visitors from India to Singapore in 2018 (a 13% increase over 2017’s visitor-ship). Specifically, for cruise, total passenger throughput was at a high of 1.87 million (a 35% increase from 2017). The higher passenger throughput was due to the year-round deployment of Genting Dream and extended sailings from Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas and Voyager of the Seas.”

As Cosmos prepares for the launch of its 2020 vacations, the value-centric brand has unveiled a fresh look and feel including a new tagline, ‘Adventure is Knocking’. With effect from September 15, 2019, Cosmos will start its rebranding with the launch of a new logo and a new look to the way Cosmos is presented.  Varesh Chopra, Regional Director – South Asia and Middle East for the Globus family of brands, says, “With our new branding, we’re celebrating the unparalleled and attainable access a Cosmos tour provides to the world’s ‘wow’ moments. On a Cosmos vacation, we make possible ‘never thought I would’ or ‘never imagined I could’ moments by making travel easy and affordable. The idea that ‘Adventure is Knocking’ captures the excitement that travel brings.” Agents can celebrate Cosmos re-branding with the introduction of new brochures, complimentary marketing material and a new video, inviting their clients to discover adventures in the world around them. With its new look and feel, Cosmos provides travellers with value-centric vacations in 67 countries on six continents. “With our vacations priced from just US$ 79 a day, we’re helping travellers turn ‘what if’ moments into ‘I did’ realisations so they can expand their horizons, clear their heads, and open their hearts to the world around them,” says Chopra.

On 14 September 2019, STIC turns into a 46-year old company. The company has maintained its presence in the trade because of its people and their dedication towards work. The journey started in 1973, inaugurated by Karan Singh, then Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister, with handful of people. Over the years, STIC has evolved into one of the most renowned organisations, covering nine international airlines, largest hotel chains , cruises, car rental , luxury services etc. STIC moves ahead, to bigger, brighter and bolder strides… forty six … and getting younger.

At an appreciation dinner organised in New Delhi, the Singapore Tourism Board thanked cruise lines and cruise travel intermediaries for promoting cruising from Singapore. GB Srithar, Regional Director – India, Middle East & South Asia (IMESA), Singapore Tourism Board, presented ‘Valued Tourism Partner’ awards to representatives from key cruise lines operating out of Singapore and travel trade partners selling cruise holidays. Representatives of cruise lines were, Nalini Gupta, Managing Director, Lotus Aero Enterprises (Costa Cruise India); Nishith Saxena, Founder & Director, Cruise Professionals Ltd. (Princess Cruises), Naresh Rawal, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Genting Cruise Lines and Ratna Chadda, CEO, Tirun Travel Marketing (Royal Caribbean International). Four travel agents nominated by Costa Cruises, Genting Cruises and RCI were also felicitated at the ceremony.

Travel Luxury Show has kick-started in Jaipur. More than 1800 meetings are expected over two days (14-15 September) at the sixth edition of the show. Over 60 buyers and thirty exhibitors will be part of the event. The show will offer participants an opportunity to have one-to-one meetings with exhibitors from luxury hotels, destinations promoting luxury holidays and other products targeting high-end travellers from the country. The two-day event will also witness panel discussion with keynote speakers who will give an in-depth update of the industry.

Tamil Nadu Travel Mart Society, supported by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India and Department of Tourism, Government of Tamil Nadu is organising the 2nd edition of Tamil Nadu Travel Mart to showcase the potential of Tamil Nadu’s tourism on a global platform from 19-22 September in Chennai.  TTM will also have a parallel event- Tamil Nadu Medical Travel Mart, in association with Health Department Government of Tamil Nadu